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After 30 Years....

Created: Tuesday, 25 April 2017 15:25 | Written by Water Street

After 30 Years....

It has finally come to say good-bye to the old and hello to the new. At the dawn of Water Street Brewery's 30th Anniversary, we have purchased a new state of the art brewing system. Our old equiptment has served us well over the last 30 years, but was definitely showing its age and with its older technology it was just time to move forward.

So today, we removed the old brew house, and a more advanced brew house was installed at the downtown location. It will still be a few weeks before we are up and running and back into production.

We invite you to stop by and see the two new gleaming tanks made by Quality Tank Solutions from Oconomowoc, WI and celebrate with us. #30yearsandcounting

SPRING BEERS

Created: Tuesday, 03 May 2016 10:38 | Written by Water Street

Water Street Brewery loves the traditional German Bock beer progression from winter to spring,

December to May. Winter time is strong beer time and big malty bock beers fit that bill. With cold weather outside, bock beer with its strong alcohol content is the perfect beer to sit around a warm fire with.

Bock Beers vary in color and alcohol content, some consider them different styles of beer (Bock, Maibock Dopple Bock etc...) and some just consider it a variations on one style Bock Beer. Water Street Brewery usually releases 3 bock beers, Bock in December, Dopple Bock in March and Maibock in May.

Bock beer will come out in December for Advent, the first day of Bavaria's outdoor Christmas markets. Holiday shoppers with a hearty glass of Bock beer in hand is a common sight at a Christkindl Market. Water Street Brewery will usually release our Bock right as December approaches, sticking to a traditional hearty beer of about 6.5% alcohol, low in hops, and made with malts reminiscent of dark bread.

Dopple Bock "Double Bock" will usually follow several months later on the calendar. Originally brewed by monks in the Paulaner abby and called Salvator "Savior" these are very high alcohol beers over 7%. Water Street Brewery releases one every year around Lent, in March, a traditional fasting period. Originally monks were not to eat of solid food, and this hearty beer sometimes called liquid bread was used as a substitute. Water Street Brewery's Dopple Bock is stronger than our Bock, usually around 9% made with the same malts tasting of dark bread the large use of them makes the beer also have hints of dark fruit like dried figs mingling with the bread like malty body.

Finally, spring arrives and it is time for Maibock. Maibock differs greatly from traditional bock beer. Maibocks come out in May and are the transition from the heavy cold weather beers, to light warm weather beers. Water Street Brewery Maibock is brewed along these lines. Light Munich malts produce a light malt flavor, but they are used in abundance. Unlike Bock which is usually darker with caramel notes with low hops, Maibocks are light colored, but still strong in alcohol, with a much higher hop rate. Water Street Breweries Maibock which comes out every May, has a biscuit and bread character, hopped like a European pilsner and is a bit stronger usually 6.5% alcohol.

PUMPKIN ALE

Created: Monday, 05 October 2015 16:27 | Written by Water Street

PUMPKIN ALE IS BACK!

Like many breweries do in the fall, Water Street Brewery releases a Pumpkin Ale in the beginning of October every year. Although many liken pumpkin beers to the pumpkin spice craze that happens every fall in many food products, beers brewed with pumpkin can be traced to the founding of the United States.

True that the spiced pumpkin pie style beers of today are really fueled by the recent craft beer revolution and bear little resemblance of the pumpkin beers once brewed by the pilgrims and George Washington.

Historically pumpkin meat was used as a fermentable, spices could have been used but could have varied widely. Early American colonists were using all kinds of odd things in their beers such as parsnips, corn and molasses when barley was in short supply.

Early pumpkin beer recipe: Receipt for Pompion Ale: Let the Pompion be beaten in a trough and pressed as apples. The expressed juice is to be boiled in a copper for a considerable time and carefully skimmed that there may be no remains of the fibrous part of the pulp. After that intention is answered let the liquor be hopped cooled and fermented as malt beer.

As barely became readily grown and available in the fledgling United States, pumpkin was mostly abandoned in beer. There were still a few instances into the 1800s but these were now mostly flavored with pumpkin rather than brewed with it. The first modern pumpkin beer was probably Buffalo Bills Pumpkin Ale in 1986, Originally home brewed with pumpkin, the flavor was found to be generally neutral. The next batch had pumpkin pie spice added, tasted great and pumpkin ale was born.

Water Street Brewery uses some pumpkin meat in our pumpkin beer, giving it a rich pimpkin orange color. We then spice it with the Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend from Milwaukee's Spice House, and add a bit of real vanilla for a smooth creamy flavor so it tastes like pumpkin pie in a glass.

Winter Time brings BIG beers and Water Street Brewery is pleased to announce two big winter warmers.

Wisconsin Breakfast Brown Ale- Starting with "breakfast" ingredients like Oats, Milk Sugar, Maple Syrup, and Stone Creek Coffee, and then building a huge malt base including lots of Caramel 80 we built a BIG Brown Ale. To put the stamp of Wisconsin on it we aged it on Brandy wood. So it is an Imperial American Brandy Oak Aged Milk Brown Ale.